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First Year Seminar

Reading the New York Times

Prof. Rubin  October 1, 2007

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library
Leigh Keller

lkeller1@ramapo.edu

x7316

 I. Library Homepage   Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

• First Year Seminar Page  Information on library research for all FYS classes

• Course Reserve  Need either Ramapo ID (R#) or barcode (provided by the library)

• Q&A New Jersey  Reference assistance when there is no reference librarian available

II.  Avoiding Plagiarism

•        Academic Integrity

•       Use Citing Sources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"

III. Finding Books at the Potter Library

• Catalog: use this to find books, journal titles NOT ARTICLES, government documents, reserve items, music and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

• Search the catalog using Keywords to find material
  • For example: search for newspaper writing to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your project

                 Tips

1. Start with broad searches. It is much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc... tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
3. Can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record

IV. Electronic Resources

• Some useful Databases for finding articles:

• Alphabetic list

• Journal Finder : determine if a journal is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm

V.  Websites

• Subject Resources

• Evaluating Websites: to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

VI. Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan: allows students to borrow a book or article that the Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

Use QandA NJ a 24/7 virtual chat with a reference librarian.